Pitch Yourself Perfect | Top Tips

Animated Women UK Board member Georgina Hurcombe took part in the Children’s Media Conference’s ‘Pitch Yourself Perfect’ skill builder workshop in July along with some other amazing industry experts including Lynsey O Callahan and Louise Bucknole (Viacom), Natalie Llewellyn (Jellyfish), Harriet Williams (YACF), Josie Grierson (Entertainment 1).

The Session was run by Justine Bannister and aimed towards providing insight and tips to enhance pitching skills within the animated Children media landscape.

Throughout her career, Georgina has pitched at numerous International markets including MIPCOM, MIPJR, Kidscreen, Children’s Media Conference, Annecy and most recently MIPTV where she won The Kids series in development pitch with her 3D adventure craft series Pop Paper City.

We asked Georgina to share her top tips for pitching your animated idea!

It can be nerve-racking pitching and going to markets, especially when you’re new to the children’s animated TV landscape!  Here are a few of my pitching tips…

1. KNOW YOUR PROJECT

• You need to know your project inside out. You need clarity on every aspect of your project: What style is it? What’s its USP? Who is the target audience?
• Practice until you can pitch your project in five minutes or less. There are lots of opportunities for speed meetings at markets such as MIPJR, MIPCom, Kidscreen, Maninimation and CMC (which are often accessible to new talent), so it’s important to be able to pitch your project quickly and concisely.

2. RESEARCH

• Always research who you’re going to be pitching to.
• Find out what kind of project the person you want to pitch to is looking for, as sometimes your project may not match their needs – you don’t want to waste somebody’s time pitching them a project that doesn’t fit their remit. For this reason, it’s always good to have a few projects to discuss.

3. RELAX AND BE YOURSELF

• Be authentic and passionate – enthusiasm is contagious!
• Relax – most people you’re pitching to are lovely. They’re looking for awesome projects and ideas and want you to do well.

4. NETWORK

• Network, network, network! Luckily, the children’s TV landscape is super friendly. Often you’ll meet other great creatives who you may be able to work with, get tips from, etc.  I’ve met lots of great creatives in markets and made some great friends. There are also fantastic groups you can join, like Animated Women UK!

5. PREPARE FOR YOUR PITCH

• Ideally have visuals or a clip to show when you are pitching. Or, even better, have a full bible which you can talk somebody through. The person you’re pitching to will almost definitely appreciate being able to ‘see’ your project or idea as well as hear about it. So have as much creative content as possible even if it’s only sketches.
• If you are pitching in a pair, always work out who is doing what parts of the pitch in advance and then assess what worked and what didn’t about your pitching format after you have finished.
• If your pitch doesn’t work out, always take rejection gracefully. Don’t be disheartened.  Lots of projects have gone through significant development before getting to the right standard and others may never come to fruition. Be realistic, but positive.

I hope these are helpful tips and good luck with your future projects!

Georgina

Georgina Hurcombe is MD and Producer at LoveLove Films.  She is also on the board of Animated Women UK.